logical spell choices for a sorcerer

[Pirengle]

I'm thinking of playing my first sorcerer PC, and was thinking about going with an all-mage party: PC sorcerer, Jan, Nalia, Edwin, Imoen, and either Aerie or Kelsey depending on PC gender.

I want to do a variant on the typical sorcerer and choose spells for him/her that would be logical for someone with innate magical abilities. Touch attacks, heightened mental states, minor physical transformations, that sort of thing. I'll probably leave out AoE spells and most of the conjuration spells like Mordenkainen's Sword and Monster Summoning. I'm probably going to leave the ToB HLAs out of it altogether, except for the obvious few.

So, any thoughts?

[Dundee Slaytern]

A question first.

What is the personality of your Sorcerer?

[Pirengle]

He/she is a calm, quiet, do-gooder type. Mostly passive or defensive. Easygoing and sympathetic. That sort of person.

[Faceman]

I'd go with a lot of defensive spell then (Stoneskin, Armor, Globe of Invulnerability.)
For offense: Agnazar's Scorcher is an obvius choice for a sorcerer as well as MMM (or even the HLA blades and anything that comes directly from your hands). Self modifying spells like Tenser's Transformation or Polymorph self.
If your charisma is high this would justify charm-spells or even area effects like Confusion or Horror. If you're the easygoing calm one Oiluk's Sphere should be among your arsenal (to either protect the needy or silence an enemy while you deal with the others).

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally posted by Pirengle: He/she is a calm, quiet, do-gooder type. Mostly passive or defensive. Easygoing and sympathetic. That sort of person.

Are you willing to have some fun? Get a die ready to roll. Let it decide which of the following will end up as the final five. The more sides the die has, the better. Roll a number for each spell and select the top-five-highest numbers. Reroll for ties.

Level 1:
--------
Armor, Burning Hands, Friends, Grease, Identify, Magic Missile, PfPetrification, Shield and Spook.

Level 2:
--------
Blur, Detect Invisibility, Glitterdust, Horror, Invisibility, Knock, Resist Fear, Strength and Vocalise.

Level 3:
--------
Clairvoyance, Dispel Magic, Haste, PfFire and Slow.

Level 4:
--------
Fireshield Blue/Red, Improved Invisibility, Polymorph Self, Remove Curse, Stoneskin, Teleport Field, Wizard Eye.

Level 5:
--------
Hold Monster, PfAcid, PfElectricity, Shadow Door, Spell Immunity, Spell Shield.

Level 6:
--------
Contingency, Globe of Invulnerability, Improved Haste, Mislead, Power Word:Silence, PfMagical Energy, PfMagical Weapons, Stone to Flesh, Tenser's Transformation, True Sight.

Level 7:
--------
Limited Wish, Mass Invisibility, Power Word:Stun, Project Image, PfThe Elements, Spell Sequencer, Spell Turning.

Level 8:
--------
PfEnergy, Simulacrum, Symbol Fear/Stun, Spell Trigger.

Level 9:
--------
Absolute Immunity, Chain Contingency, Freedom, Shapechange, Spell Trap, Time Stop, Wish.

[Olorin]

If you have access to a PnP spell book, you could try another way:

Look for spells that have either little or no material components when cast by "regular" mages. It would make more sense that a sorceror's innate powers would not mimic spells that rely heavily on material components. (not having done much PnP, I can't really say what spells might fit this requirement)

[Firestormalpha]

Olorin, interesting advice, too bad that Pirengle is playing BG2 a PC game not a PnP game.

Dundee don't you have an old post somewhere with a list of the best sorcerer spells for either party of solo oriented sorcerors? Or was it a link to the list?

[Pirengle]

Originally posted by Firestormalpha: Olorin, interesting advice, too bad that Pirengle is playing BG2 a PC game not a PnP game.

Very helpful advice, actually. I played D&D 2nd ed for a while, and I own the 3rd ed books.

Dundee don't you have an old post somewhere with a list of the best sorcerer spells for either party of solo oriented sorcerors? Or was it a link to the list?

I refer often to Dundee's party sorcerer spell list when choosing spells for Kelsey. But I'm not trying to make a juggernaut. I'm trying to make a realistic sorcerer.

I don't know, it sorta seems natural to me to think of a sorcerer as somebody who'd have spells as an instinctive reflex, almost. And no, I don't consider PRATI technique or CC bombs instinctive reflexes.

I reformatted Dundee's list and made a list of choices. Thoughts?

(07) Burning Hands
(07) Chill Touch
(07) Friends
(07) Larloch’s Minor Drain
(07) Shocking Grasp
(07) Ghoul Touch
(07) Luck
(07) Strength
(07) Minor Spell Deflection
(07) Melf’s Minute Meteors
(08) Spirit Armor
(09) Blur
(09) Vampiric Touch
(09) Stoneskin
(10) Spell Immunity
(11) Knock
(11) Clairvoyance
(11) Emotion
(11) Minor Spell Turning
(12) Contingency
(13) Polymorph Self
(13) Domination
(13) Improved Haste
(14) Spell Sequencer
(15) Spell Shield
(15) Disintegrate
(15) Mantle
(16) Maze
(17) Limited Wish
(17) Spell Trigger
(18) Chain Contingency
(19) Improved Mantle
(19) Spell Trap
(20) Imprisonment
(21) True Sight
(22) Non-Detection
(22) Spell Turning
(23) Greater Malison
(23) Protection from Energy
(25) Energy Drain
(28) Shadow Door
(30) Protection from Magical Weapons
(31) Finger of Death
(32) the ToB-only 8th level spell
(36) Wish (ToB only)

Probably not going to get into ToB HLAs all that much.

[Firestormalpha]

Ahhh, sorry for the misunderstanding then, Pirengle. I guess I still have to much power gamer in me. Not that power gaming is a bad thing. I'm just trying to shift into more RPing.

[Dundee Slaytern]

The reason for my spell choices is because while most of them are uncommon choices, they are not useless. Emotion is a very offensive spell, which was why I chose not to mention it( passive and defensive being the flavour of the day). Ghoul Touch will never see the light of day unless you enjoy torturing yourself. Energy Drain is just sad for a level 9 spell. Etc... ...